OnTheGo

From MEPIS Documentation Wiki

Introduction

OnTheGo allows you to use a MEPIS Live CD and USB device to use your desktop on any computer, wherever you are. It allows you to store your data on your USB Key/Thumb Drive and take your data and desktop with you. Not only does it store your data, it stores it securely encrypted.

Now you'll never have to leave the office without your desktop and critical data. Just take your USB Key/thumb drive with you wherever you go and boot with your MEPIS CD!

First, note that OnTheGo does not take-over your entire USB drive--it's only one file. That means you can format your key as fat32 for Windows & Mac compatibility to maintain publicly accessible files on your USB drive and still have a secure area for your MEPIS files!

OnTheGo expects things to happen in a specific sequence. Some steps require you to wait a few seconds. Changing users or logging off may take up to 30 seconds.

CREATING YOUR OnTheGo DRIVE

3. Log out using right-click on desktop --> Log out "UserName"... --> End Current Session, then log in as root. If you are not root (such as on your employer's machine), log in as root booting from the LiveCD.

4. Insert key drive, cancel any action that starts, then unmount it if necessary--do NOT use Safely Remove. When the drive is mounted, its desktop icon will have a bright green arrow pointing down. You can unmount it using Kwikdisk or the command line.

Command line: KMenu --> System --> Terminal Program (Konsole). At the command line become root, then type

umount /dev/yourdevicename

5. Start MEPIS System Assistant --> MEPIS USB Key tab, check Create the OnTheGo file, select encrypted or not, and click Apply. Wait for Status box to read: "Finalize OnTheGo...ok", then exit. Copy over data at this point or later if you like. Unplug drive, then logout.

NOTE: Both are lowercase without any spaces. Do not enter your encryption passphrase here.

6. If you chose to make an encrypted onthego drive, you will be asked for your encryption passphrase as this point.
If you enter your passphrase wrong the system may crash requiring a hard reboot (reset button on the case). This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it would slow-down an attacker.